This is hands down the best pizza dough! It makes a New York-style pizza with a thin crust in the center and beautifully puffed on the edges. You will love this crust – it’s crisp, chewy and so satisfying. Make this and you will never want a store-bought crust again. And, you’ll be known for your pizza!
Unlike our Quick and Easy Pizza Dough (which is great if you’re in a hurry), this is an Overnight pizza dough. You can only get this kind of pizzeria-quality crust by letting it rest in the refrigerator and slowly rise overnight. It’s also easier than you think. Watch the video tutorial, and you’ll be a pro in no time!
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The Best Pizza Dough
This is a make-ahead pizza dough recipe that just gets better with time and it keeps really well refrigerated for at least a week. Here’s more good news: our classic red pizza sauce and creamy white pizza sauce also keep really well in the fridge so you can fire up a pizza whenever the craving strikes. An overnight pizza dough also makes throwing a pizza party stress-free and everyone will be super impressed by your pizza-making skills. P.S. This overnight pizza dough is also great for homemade Stromboli or even Calzones (i.e. pizza pockets).
Pizza Dough Video Tutorial
Watch the pizza dough video tutorial once and you will be a pro in no time.
The Secret to the Best Pizza Crust
Since most pizza dough recipes have the same ingredients: flour, salt, water, yeast – it’s the process that makes all the difference. This pizza dough seriously tastes like it came out of a high-end pizzeria and in fact, most New York pizza doughs are fermented for at least 24 hours.
The pizza bosses of the world know the secret to an incredible dough is to let it rest and give it time to rise in the slow/ cold fermentation step. This process makes the dough much easier to work with and forms the coveted texture, rise, and bubbles at the edges.
What is the Best Flour for Pizza Dough?
You don’t need any fancy flours to develop a gorgeous crust. We used organic all-purpose flour for making pizza. Bread flour will work equally well if that is what you have on hand and it will give you a slightly chewier crust. You can substitute bread flour for all-purpose flour in equal parts.
If you want to make a more Neopolitan-style pizza, a “00” Flour is a great choice as well.
You can dust the pizza peel with the flour you are using to make the dough, or dust with semolina flour if you have it on hand. It’s what the pros use for easier transfer from the pizza peel to the oven.
Pro Tip:
Do not use too much yeast! Most ‘quick’ pizza doughs use way too much yeast which makes the crust doughy and causes the center of the pizza rise while baking. If you use too much yeast, you will never achieve that thin crisp crust in the center.
How to Make Overnight Pizza Dough
- Mix together water, salt and honey. Sprinkle with yeast and set aside 5 min then stir.
- Pour the water mixture over your flour and stir to combine with a spatula, then knead by hand for 2 minutes. Cover and let rise 4-5 hours at room temperature.
- Transfer dough onto a floured surface and divide in half. Fold each piece of dough 8 times (rotating book fold) and form a ball. Transfer to an oiled bowl, cover, and refrigerate overnight or up to 7 days. Your dough is done.
Why Fold the Pizza Dough?
Folding the dough balls 8 times with the ‘book fold’ and turning the dough between each fold strengthens the gluten threads and traps carbon dioxide created by the yeast, which helps form those beautiful bubbles in the dough.
How to Form and Bake Pizza Crust
- Remove the dough from the fridge 1 hour before using then preheat the oven with a pizza stone in the center to 550˚F.
- When the oven is preheated, place room-temperature dough onto a floured surface and dust lightly with flour.
- Gently press the dough down in the center with your fingertips, then place the dough over the back of your knuckles with both hands together and roll over your knuckles, rotating around the dough as you go, keeping a 1″ thicker border. Place 10-12″ diameter crust onto a floured pizza peel.
- Add white pizza sauce or red pizza sauce, cheese, and toppings. Give the pizza a shake over your pizza peel to make sure it’s not sticking then immediately slide it from your pizza peel onto the preheated pizza stone and bake at 550˚F for 8-10 minutes.
Tools for Homemade Pizza
The right tools will make the pizza dough making the process even easier. It will also make you look like a pizza ninja to transfer your pizza from a pizza peel onto your hot pizza stone.
- Pizza Peels (a set of 2 makes the process easier).
- Flexible Food Scraper – to scrape the dough out of bowls and cut the dough in half
- Round Pizza Stone – to bake your pizza in the oven
- Pizza Cutter – the easiest way to slice a pizza
- Instant Read Thermometer – to check water temperature
Pro Tip:
If you are looking for fresh pizza topping inspiration, you’ll love the Tuscan Pizza we shared in Natasha’s Kitchen Cookbook (it uses this same overnight pizza dough recipe)!
Can I Freeze Pizza Dough?
Yes! It’s very easy to freeze this dough, and once it’s thawed, it tastes just as good as freshly made. See our tutorial for How to Freeze Pizza Dough.
What to Serve with Pizza
Once you have mastered your pizza-making skills, you will want to throw a pizza party. Once you throw a pizza party, you’ll need sides to go with it. These are all great options:
- Avocado Ranch or Homemade Ranch Dressing
- Caesar Salad – a fresh and crisp green salad
- Avocado Corn Salad – so vibrant and satisfying
- Cobb Salad – beautiful and delicious
- Garden Salad – A restaurant-style side salad
- Instant Pot Corn on the Cob – the juiciest way to cook corn
Overnight Pizza Dough Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups warm water, 105-110˚F
- 1/2 tsp active dry yeast
- 1 tsp honey
- 1/2 Tbsp fine sea salt
- 3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour, (measured correctly) plus more to dust*
Instructions
How to Make Pizza Dough:
- In a small bowl, stir together water, honey, and salt then sprinkle the top with 1/2 tsp yeast and let sit 5 minutes then stir.
- Measure 3 1/3 cups flour in a large mixing bowl and make a well in the center. Pour yeast mixture into the center then stir with a firm spatula until the dough comes together. Knead by hand 2 minutes (dough will be sticky). Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let rise at room temperature 4-5 hours or until doubled in size.
- Transfer dough to a floured surface, turn to coat lightly in flour so it isn’t sticky then divide in half. Fold each piece of dough in half 8 times, gently pulling the sides over the center like closing a book, turning the dough each time and repeating for 8 folds. Form a ball in your hands and transfer each piece of dough to a lightly oiled bowl seam-side-down, cover and refrigerate overnight (18 hours) or up to 1 week.
How to Form a Pizza Crust:
- PREP: Remove the dough 1 hour before using to let it relax and come to room temperature. Before forming the pizza crust, fully preheat your oven so pizza can be baked right away. Place a pizza stone or inverted baking sheet onto the center rack of the oven and preheat to 550˚F. Also, lightly flour a pizza peel and prep toppings.
- When dough is about room temperature and oven is preheated, transfer 1 piece of dough to a floured surface, turning to lightly coat in flour. Pat the center of the dough gently with fingertips. DO NOT pop any bubbles present.
- Lift the dough over both knuckles and roll your knuckles under the center of the dough, working outward as you rotate the dough along your knuckles and leaving a thicker crust at the edge. Continue working the dough until a 10-12” pizza has formed. It will shrink slightly so make it a little bigger than you think. Place the dough down on a lightly floured pizza peel. Give the pizza peel a little shake to make sure the pizza slides over it and is not sticking.
- Spread on desired pizza sauce and toppings. Give the pizza another jolt to make sure it slides on the pizza peel (you don’t want it to stick while transferring it into the oven). Slide pizza onto the preheated pizza stone and bake at 550˚F for 8-10 minutes or until crust is golden brown and some of the larger bubbles on the crust are lightly scorched to ensure a crisp crust.
Notes
Nutrition Per Serving
Filed Under
Made a huge amount of this for a large family gathering we hosted, and was a big hit!! I’ve always done a quick easy pizza crust recipe (not sure where I found it) that only takes an hour max and the crust usually comes out good, but not always. Plus, when you’re making 8+ pizzas, it’s way easier to prep the dough ahead of time. This recipe let me enjoy the gathering because I wasn’t in the kitchen making pizza dough the whole time. Just plop in on the counter, shape it, top it, and bake it for a few minutes and it’s ready! Plus, everyone loved it!!
That’s wonderful! I’m glad it was a hit!
I am wondering if I could make this pizza dough, form it like I am going to make a pizza but bake it without sauce and toppings? I want to use it later like a prepared pizza crust.
Hi Janice! That should be fine.
I made the dough last week, let it sit it fridge overnight. I found it was not very malleable to stretch. Ended up w tears (that were still easy to fix) and the dough was snapping back into smaller size. Is there smtg I could do differently next time?
Hi Michelle, did you let the dough come to room temp before stretching after it was in the fridge?
Michelle when you said “ended up w tears” I thought, oh yeah, I’ll probably be crying too! 🤣
Wow, it was so delicious!!!! I made it for my husband and our dinner. We love it!
I struggled to make dough pizza many time and I almost give up but I noticed that your recipe. I decided I made it. Finally, I made it and look better!!!!! I’m so glad and it was so delicious!
Thank you!!!!!!
I’m so glad it was a hit! Thank you for the wonderful feedback.
May I freeze the dough? And if so, when in the process and then how to bring it to room temperature? Thank you!!
Hi Barbara, you sure can! We address that question in the recipe under the “Can I Freeze Pizza Dough?” section. I hope this helps.
Made this pizza dough last night and it was generally very good. It would have worked out better if I had a peel instead of trying to use a sheet of parchment paper in its place. I say this mostly in jest, but I think there is a special place in hell for people who put a 1/2 tablespoon measurement in a recipe. How do you get that right?
It’s 1 1/2 teaspoons. My set doesn’t have a 1/2 Tbsp either but I think most sets have a 1 tsp and a 1/2 tsp.
My husband and I have a Halo pizza oven and have been experimenting with lots of different pizza doughs. We made this and had it yesterday and it is the winner after about 5-6 mediocre tries. Easy to make, I used 00 flour, and boy the crust was both crispy and puffy. Winner!
Wow! That’s just awesome! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review, Kate!
Hands down the best pizza crust I have made! So good I also tried with the calzones recipe. Thanks!
So glad you loved it, Laurie! Thank you for the feedback.
Thanks, Laurie. So glad that you loved it a lot!
Heya Natasha,
I’m making this recipe for use with your calzones recipe. As the recipe for the calzones calls for 2 lbs of dough, do you know how much dough this recipe makes?
Hi Sorcha! This is the dough that we use in our Easy Calzone Recipe and it makes 2 lbs.
Making this dough today. So excited. Love your videos. I like to measure in metric for accuracy. The recipe calls for half tsp yeast or 2 grams. They are not equal. Can you please clarify?
Thanks
Angela
Hi Angela, 2 grams of yeast equals 0.43 (~ 1/2) teaspoon. Or precisely 0.42712449728644 teaspoon. Some values are approximate so we use 1/2 teaspoon. I hope that helps.
Hi Natasha, Can I make Gluten-Free pizza with this recipe using King Arthur GF Measure to Measure Flour? Thanks!
Hi Isha, I have not tested this with gluten-free flour to advise. If you experiment, let me know how you liked the recipe.
I followed the recipe and used King Arthur’s gluten-free Measure for Measure (1:1) flour. The dough was cracking and lacking gluten, but I folded the dough balls eight times. Even though it wasn’t all that horrible, the flavor was alright. My daughter loved Pan pizza (she also enjoyed Dominos and Pizza Hut’s pizza), so I’ve been attempting several recipes but haven’t had much success :(Anyway, I love your recipes, and my younger daughter is very fascinated with your videos. The way you display the pictures is also quite useful. I want to thank you for your incredible work and sense of humor:)
Thank you so much for sharing that with me, Isha!
I keep coming back to this same recipe over and over. I am obsessed.
I’m so glad you found a favorite on my blog, Andi! Thank you for your awesome review!
Hi Natasha, I would like to use this recipe for calzones. Do I need to split the dough in two still, or can I do the stretches and folds with the whole dough ball and put it in the fridge as one? Thank you!
Hi Kim, I recommend checking out the comments section at the bottom of the recipe I remember seeing others try this recipe for calzones and shared their experience there.
I have tried this pizza crust recipe several times and love it!
However, I have had problems with getting the pizza off the peel. I have tried using flour and cornmeal separately and both at the same time. I have even tried freezing the pizza on the peel for about 15 min before baking and still sometimes will not slide off easily. Any suggestions? Thanks !
Hi Donna! There are a few things that could be causing that. You may find this article helpful.
I spread the dough on parchment paper and then slide the peel under the paper and place it on an inverted cookie sheet that has been heating for at least 15 minutes. Works great.
Hi, your pizza dough recipe looks delicious. Can I use the 00 flour instead of white flour? Im looking forward to making it.
Thank you,
Theresa
Hi Theresa! I haven’t tested it myself, so I’m not sure if the substitution is exactly straight across, but I have had one reader report good results using 00 flour.
What if you don’t have a pizza stone? Does the time and temp make a change on a cookie sheet?
Many of my readers have made this on a baking sheet too with good results. It could effect the time just a bit so keep your eye on it.
Omg ! This pizza recipe looks so good! I will definitely try it. Thank you for sharing !
I hope you love it!
Can we use the dough after it has risen or do we need to let it set overnight
You’ll see in the instructions above to cover and refrigerate the dough overnight (18 hours). This dough really needs the overnight cold fermentation process to rise properly since it doesn’t have a ton of yeast. This is what differentiates it from a quick dough recipe such as my Individual Pizza Crust recipe which uses more yeast. You may try using the individual pizza crust recipe instead if you want a quicker dough.
I LOVE this recipe!! Do you think I could substitute bread flour for all purpose flour?
Hi Emily, we address that option in the recipe. See the “What is the Best Flour for Pizza Dough?” Section. I hope that helps.
I will probably never order pizza again! My family loved the dough and said it tasted like authentic Italian pizza and we’ve been to the mecca of pizza (Naples, Italy). Thank you for sharing this recipe!
Hi Lori! That’s amazing. I’m so glad you loved the recipe. Thank you for the feedback.
Hi Natasha I love your recipes and I have tried your pizza dough recipe however when I tried to open the dough on my knuckles as you demonstrated in the video the dough started to tear.
Do you know what may have caused that I followed your recipe precisely?
Thankyou
Hi Analise, it’s hard to say without being there, but it’s possible the gluten hasn’t developed enough causing it to tear – that’s the most likely culprit. Improper kneading or not letting the dough rest for enough time could also be the culprit, I’ve also found not measuring flour properly and ending up with too much flour has lead to issues. I know this is a few possibilities to consider, but I hope they’re helpful!